Ikkaku Madarame
Ikkaku Madarame 'is the Third Seat of the Eleventh Squad in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. His captain is Kenpachi Zaraki. Background Physical Appearance Ikkaku is a tall and musclar-built man with black eyes and pale skin. He is bald, a fact made fun of by many people, especially Eleventh Squad Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi, who calls him "''cue ball", "chrome-dome", or "pachiko-head" (as a result of her fondness for giving people nicknames or when he questions her direction skills). Ikkaku's bald scalp is very reflective under the sun, which is mistaken for a full moon. His dark-colored eyes each have a small red marking at the outer corner. Ikkaku has a scar, which he while fighting Ichigo Kurosaki during the Ryoka Invasion, running down the left side of his chest. He wears the standard Soul Reaper robes, with the exception of no tabi with his sandals and sports a gold-plated shoulder plate on his right arm with the kanji for dragon printed on it. Personality Ikkaku is violent, fight-loving, fearless and rude, which is noted by Tetsuzaemon Iba, among others. He loves fighting so much that he is unwilling to travel anywhere without a sword, resorting to carrying a wooden one when posing as a student at Ichigo Kurosaki's school. However, Ikkaku does have a sense of loyalty and responsibility unlike many of the lower-ranked Eleventh Squad members and was fiercely loyal to his former captain, under whose command he wishes to die. Ikkaku shares many personality traits with his division's former captain, Kenpachi Zaraki, which explains why they seem to have so much respect for each another. Ikkaku considers fighting fun, just as his captain does, and tries to get as much fun as he can out of his opponents, so much so that he would take deadly risks to drag out the fight for as long as possible. He also shares Kenpachi's penchant for limiting his skills in order for his fights to last longer (with the only difference being the fact that he chooses to do so by restricting the use of his Bankai whereas Kenpachi prefers the use of his power-sealing eye patch given to him by the Twelfth Squad). Like Kenpachi, Ikkaku is seen constantly smiling when engaging in a fight with a formidable opponent. And like all Eleventh Squad members, he considers the only honorable battles to be those that are fought one-on-one. Even the threat of death is not a reason to ignore this fact, as they believe that the winner is only to be determined when the other dies. He does consider surviving an otherwise lost battle good luck, as his former captain taught him, and is also sensible enough to carry a blood-clotting ointment in the hilt of his Zanpakuto. History Powers and Abilities Zanjutsu Prowess *Master Swordsman Specialist: Despite being ranked Third Seat of his division, his rank does not reflect his fighting abilities. According to Yumichika Ayasegawa, Ikkaku is the second strongest fighter in the Eleventh Squad. He uses a fighting style that is noted at being rough but powerful alongside the use of complex movements that allows him to lunge with his sword from the left and defend with his sheath at the right, though he is ambidextrous and can easily switch between the two techniques. He uses misdirection in his attacks and even though doing so allows for holes in his defense he is more than capable of making it up with surprise attacks. However, his mastery of this skill is great enough that Renji Abarai begged Ikkaku to train him. **Naginatajutsu Master: Ikkaku's Zanpakuto is a naginata-type weapon while in Shikai. He fights with this style for longer and more heavier attacks. This helps him combat more proficeint swordsman opponents. **Bojutsu Master: Though Ikkaku's Zanpakuto is a Naginata-type weapon while in Shikai form, it can split apart into a three-sectioned staff and back into a Naginata. While in the split form he is highly proficient in the use of techniques similar in use to that of bo to take advantage of its versatility. Hakuda Prowess *Hakuda Expert: Before he became a Soul Reaper, Ikkaku was always roaming around looking for fights. Most opponents did not have swords, so he frequently fought barehanded. He won against everyone he fought, and upon seeing his strength, most people fled from him. When Moe broke his Zanpakuto, Ikkaku resorted to fighting unarmed, and swiftly defeated the Fullbringer with his level of close-combat. Shunpo Prowess *Shunpo Practitioner: Ikkaku has been seen using Shunpo frequently, though he only uses it to keep up with stronger opponents; this way he can fight more. Spiritual Power *High Spiritual Power: Though only a Third Seat, Ikkaku boasts a high level of spritiual power, and has the strength of a lieutenant-class fighter of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. His Reiatsu color is red. Other Skills *'''Enhanced Strength: Ikkaku obviously possesses a high level of strength, as he was able to block a punch from Edarad Liones in his released state, even when severely injured. Ikkaku sent Hozukimaru flying several meters away and through solid rock with a single attack. Several of his opponents have commented on the strength of his blows. His muscle control is highly developed, for after having a shoulder dislocated, he reset it by flexing his muscles. *'Enhanced Endurance': Ikkaku has been shown to have an incredibly high endurance. In his first fight against the Arrancar Edarad Liones, who had released his Zanpakuto, Ikkaku was losing with ease against an Arrancar even when the he uses his Shikai. Ikkaku is then told by the Arrancar to give up but he fights back and after using for the first time his own Bankai he won against the Arrancar. In another fight with Arrancar Choe Neng Poww, Ikkaku was losing poorly, even his Shikai was completely destroyed, yet he wanted to fight regardless. During his fight against Moe Shishigawara, even after taking several critical hits to the point of coughing up blood, he still fought on and defeated Moe. *'Enhanced Durability': Aside from his impressive resilience and stamina, Ikkaku has a great degree of physical durability, able to withstand vicious blows and still continue to fight despite the odds. Zanpakuto Hozukimaru (Demon Light): It appears like any regular Zanpakuto when sealed. Madarame does hide a small vial of healing ointment in the base of the hilt, though. Hozukimaru's cross-guard is an oval, with what look like three small teardrops in relief on both the top and bottom end. Hozukimaru's sealed form enables Ikkaku to employ it in battle as a normal weapon, with its sheath being wielded in his other hand to serve as a secondary weapon. *'Shikai': Its Shikai command is "Extend". Hozukimaru's Shikai is unusual in that Ikkaku slams Hozukimaru's hilt (and sometimes its pommel) into its sheath to activate it when saying the command phrase. Once activated, Hozukimaru takes on the form of what initially appears to be a naginata (spear) with a wax wood shaft. The pommel also has a red horsehair tassel. While able to deliver powerful blows, it is not very durable as it tends to break against particularly strong strikes. Shikai Special Ability: Ikkaku uses the command "Split Apart" to separate his naginata into its true form which is a Sansetsukon (Three Sectional Staff), after which the sections can independently reconnect and separate again at will. This special ability surprises one's opponents when they first attack. These chains are also able to extend a fair length, allowing Ikkaku to swing his weapon like a flail for mid-range attacks. *'Bankai': Ryumon Hozukimaru '(''Dragon Crest Demon Light): In Bankai, Ryumon Hozukimaru keeps the three-section theme but loses its naginata ''properties. Instead, it is merely three over-sized weapons connected by an equally large chain. To activate his Bankai, Ikkaku slams the two broken pieces of his Shikai back into the spear-form and says Bankai. Ikkaku's two main weapons are a Chinese Monk's spade and a standard ''Guan dao. Both have a traditional horsehair tassel at the hilt and a long cylindrical weight for a pommel. The pommels are connected by a heavy chain to the center section, which resembles an axe-like blade with a parallel handle forged into the blunt end and a dragon crest on one side of the blade. Despite all three weapons being of near-ridiculous proportions, Ikkaku wields them easily. Ikkaku usually holds one blade in each hand and lets the central portion "float" behind him, though he will occasionally spin the entire configuration about using the center handle as a pivot. Even though it was repaired by Akon of the Twelfth Squad, Ikkaku's Bankai is still weakned since the fierce titantic battle with Edarad Liones. '''Bankai Special Ability: Ikkaku's Bankai, like his Shikai, is quite unusual. Aside from the increase in strength and power, his Bankai offers no special abilities and no special defensive or kido properties. It releases some reiatsu which starts to grow in strength. Ikkaku treats Hozukimaru a lot different than others (as they just let theirs slumber and use it when they want to do Bankai). But if he forces it to awaken suddenly, cutting the enemy and not getting cut becomes a lot harder to handle than it should be. Thus Ikkaku's Bankai gets increasingly more powerful as the fight drags on. After he performs his Bankai, the dragon crest will slowly fill in with crimson dye as Ikkaku's spiritual power rises. It fills faster when he spins Hozukimaru with the center handle. Ikkaku comments that his Zanpakuto is actually very lazy in battle (in stark contrast to Ikkaku himself) and needs to be woken up through causing or receiving injury; which would explain its ability to accumulate attacking power the longer the fight extends. When the crest is completely filled, Hozukimaru is at its full power. However, the force of unleashing so much power can leave his Zanpakuto's edge brittle under excessive stress. Relationships Friends/Allies *Yumichika Ayasegawa (Best friend and partner-in-combat) *Kenpachi Zaraki (Captain) *Yachiru Kusajishi (Lieutenant) *Ichigo Kurosaki (Close friend and friendly rival) *Renji Abarai (Close friend and swordsmanship student) *Rukia Kuchiki *Toshiro Hitsugaya *Rangiku Matsumoto *Shuhei Hisagi *Izuru Kira *Momo Hinamori *Karin Kurosaki (Close friend) *Uryu Ishida *Orihime Inoue *Yasutora Sado *Hanataro Yamada *Keigo Asano *Kiba Inuzuka *Akamaru *Wei and Wing Beifong *Antoine D'Coolette Rivals *Ichigo Kurosaki (Friendly Rival) *Tetsuzaemon Iba *Edarad Liones (also enemy) Enemies *Owari Otsutsuki *The Kihei *The Red Lotus (Xin Bau's Group) *Sosuke Aizen *Hollows *The Arrancars **Edarad Liones (also rival) *The Espada *The Bounts *Sojiro Kusaka *Kasumioji Clan *Muramasa *Kageroza Inaba *The Reigai *Oko Yushima Background in Other Media * Quotes * Trivia * See Also * Category:Characters Category:Heroes Category:Males Category:Soul Reapers Category:Soul Reaper Seated Officers Category:Eleventh Squad Category:Thirteen Court Guard Squads Category:Team Hitsugaya Category:Team Karakura (Temporarily Members) Category:Lieutenant-class Fighters Category:Bleach Series Characters Category:Attack Type Characters Category:Major Characters Category:Naruto, Bleach, Korra, and Sonic: Project Storm Playable Characters Category:Master Swordsmen Specialists Category:Hakuda Experts Category:Shunpo Practitioners Category:Heroes Alliance Category:New United Republic Characters Category:Bankai Users